Smart Ice Cubes Tell When You've Had Enough Alcohol

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Smart Ice Cubes Tell When You've Had Enough Alcohol

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday January 13, 2013 @06:54AM from the slow-down dept.

dstates writes "In just 6 weeks an MIT researcher created smart ice cubes that monitor your drinking. After an alcohol induced blackout motivated a bit of introspection (video), Dhairya Dand pulled together a coin cell battery, an ATtiny microcontroller, and an IR transceiver molded into gelatin to create self-aware glowing ice-cubes. The cubes glow and beat to the ambient music, but more importantly, they know how fast and how much you are drinking, and they change color from green to orange to finally red as you reach your safe limit. If things go too far, the ice cubes can connect to your smartphone and send a text message for a friend come get you. Of course, you have to remember not to swallow them."

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Nerd creates solution in search of a problem... by mumblestheclown · 2013-01-13 07:05 · Score: 4, Insightful

and no marketability.
"Ice Cubes that connect to your smartphone." This is not the brave new future that I want.
Honestly, this should be an early contender for the 2013 ig-Nobels (though I'm guessing / hoping this is just an overhyped undergraduate project). What's particularly bad is that the basic idea is flawed - it uses readings from accelerometers as a proxy for how many sips are being taken per unit time and then this as a proxy for rate and appropriateness of alcohol consumption. While I fully will admit that there is certainly a market for some device, perhaps built into a glass, that would allow a commercial bartender somehow detect whether a patron has had too many (though even that would have lots of legal and practical vulnerabilities), this isn't it and isn't even close.
Still, kudos for the inventor for trying compared to playing xbox or going out and having a social life or something.
1. Re:Nerd creates solution in search of a problem... by arth1 · 2013-01-13 08:56 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  How about you say, the cubes are not for every conceivable situation. But only for drinking beer out of a mug; fairly consistent levels of alcohol between beers. No straws.
  Who the hell drinks beer from a mug out of a straw?
  Who the hell drinks beer with ice cubes?
I don't need ice cubes! by dkleinsc · 2013-01-13 07:08 · Score: 4, Insightful

As Dean Martin once explained, you're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without hanging on for dear life. That seems like a good test to me.

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I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
Not going to work by Anonymous Coward · 2013-01-13 07:09 · Score: 5, Insightful

People already have lots of warnings that they have too much to drink. First, if you drink six drinks in one bar, you probably had too much. If you are slurring your words, you probably had to much. If your friends say you had too much, you probably had too much. These smart ice-cubes will not help because it is a problem of impaired judgement, not a problem of impaired measuring ability. After a few drinks I bet most people will just put the cubes in their pocket and ignore them.
1. Re:Not going to work by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2013-01-13 07:44 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  I had the exact opposite thought - I could see people buying these and having competitions for who could get their cubes to turn red the fastest.
  For the inventor's intended purpose, though, I can't see a market nor much practical utility. Drinking too much isn't usually due to ignorance. People generally know they're drinking too much - it's either an intentional choice or behavior being driven by addiction.
  
  --
  #DeleteChrome
2. Re:Not going to work by vlm · 2013-01-13 07:44 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  First of all people are looking at this negatively. Given 3 women roughly all of the same 1-10 scale, you try to pick up the drunk one by finding the one with flashing red alert ice cubes first. Or going the other way, an ugly woman can find a cute guy with the highest intensity beer googles by looking for the ice cubes flashing red alert. Lastly college students are going to use "alerting ice cubes" for drinking games, not a preventative measure, like whom ever's ice cubes flash red first, wins!
  Secondly, if you're feeling sober-ish and drinking at a bar and then suddenly pass out and wake up in some weirdo's bed or minus one kidney, the problem is not booze and the solution is not wiimotes in icecubes, the problem is someone paid the bartender to slip a pill in ur drink. I was hoping for an embedded EtOH sensor and/or a whole "GC on a chip" sensor unit, not a lame accelerometer.
  
  --
  "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
3. Re:Not going to work by miroku000 · 2013-01-13 11:17 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  People already have lots of warnings that they have too much to drink. First, if you drink six drinks in one bar, you probably had too much. If you are slurring your words, you probably had to much. If your friends say you had too much, you probably had too much. These smart ice-cubes will not help because it is a problem of impaired judgement, not a problem of impaired measuring ability. After a few drinks I bet most people will just put the cubes in their pocket and ignore them.
  This will let people know which girls are the drunkest. I wonder if that is a bug or a feature...
Or, you could not drink yourself into Oblivion by CodeheadUK · 2013-01-13 07:10 · Score: 5, Insightful

Seriously, is it that hard to drink and have a good time without pouring crap down your neck till you're shitfaced, grand slam the bed and wake up next to something that needs to be kept wet until it can be rolled back into the ocean?
Spend hours building a smart ice cube, or thinking, "Hmm the room is spinning, I feel a bit grim and that -2 over there is looking like a 10, I'll ease up a bit". Which is the 'Smart' idea?
1. Re:Or, you could not drink yourself into Oblivion by vlm · 2013-01-13 07:47 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  The funniest is when you see yourself in the mirror (after taking a piss
  Naw the funniest is when you're looking at a mirror after taking a piss and you suddenly realize you're not in a bathroom. You probably don't want to go into a bar/club where that won't get you thrown out.
  
  --
  "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
So, when the ice cubes talk to you... by Chris+Mattern · 2013-01-13 07:22 · Score: 5, Funny

...you've had enough. I don't think this is exactly news.
Your solving the wrong problem by Osgeld · 2013-01-13 07:30 · Score: 5, Insightful

What this summary misses is that the blackout sent the dude to the hospital, and not even 3 weeks later he is drinking it up at a party again. Thats a problem blinky ice cubes wont solve
http://hackaday.com/2013/01/09/led-ice-cubes-prevent-alcohol-induced-blackouts/
Smart ice cubes? by Georules · 2013-01-13 07:44 · Score: 4, Insightful

How about YOU be smart? Be aware of your own alcohol tolerances.
Re:Doubt it works by larry+bagina · 2013-01-13 07:48 · Score: 5, Funny

I tried them and it works. Halfway through my first drink, the bartender saw them, dragged me outside, and beat the shit out of me. I had to go to the hospital, but at least it wasn't due to alcohol poisoning!

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Re:What happens ... by backslashdot · 2013-01-13 07:48 · Score: 5, Insightful

Maybe they should have designed these features into the cup rather than something that drops in the alcohol. THe cup can probably do more sensory related stuff.
Re:What happens ... by FatdogHaiku · 2013-01-13 07:49 · Score: 4, Funny

When it comes to drinking there ARE all sorts of excuses!
My favorite was always:
"I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy."

--
You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
The Wife by dohzer · 2013-01-13 09:54 · Score: 5, Funny

Finally an automated version of my wife at parties: cold and keeping track of my drinking.
Re:What happens ... by M.+Baranczak · 2013-01-13 10:52 · Score: 5, Funny

"Moderate drinking is harmless, even in large quantities." - Antoni Slonimski
Re:They better keep their pieholes shut by egcagrac0 · 2013-01-13 11:02 · Score: 3, Funny

Mine can just stay green. This can be considered a cost reduction - no need to install orange or red LED's in 'em.